In an interview with Sportsnet 590, Zaun explained the details:
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Zaun, who played his rookie season in 1995, also described a time that Ripken ripped his new suit to shreds on the team plane.
UPDATE: Ripken responded Monday, telling reporters (via MASN.com): “There was no abuse, there was no hazing. It doesn’t do anything for team unity. (Zaun) knows that and everybody who knows me knows that.” Ripken also said he still considers Zaun a good friend.
Zaun is adamant that the systemic embarrassment and physical and emotional assault is crucial to the process of, uh, playing baseball. Or something:
It’s hard to know where to even start with that. The obvious angle is that doing things because “everything seems to work out just fine” is a catch-all that often ignores individuals, or, you know, maybe laws against getting pummeled at your place of business.
If you need to have a good ol’ beatin’ to create a “pecking order,” it’s a sign of your stunted emotional growth and nothing more. Dogs create heirarchy through this sort of thing. Human beings shouldn’t need to, especially under the pretext that it’s required to play a game that’s mostly about coordinating wearing sunglasses upside down while simultaneously eating sunflower seeds.
We should also back up and point out that not only does this paint Zaun as a lumbering caveman, but it puts Ripken’s clean image under scrutiny. Yes, Zaun is a weirdo for liking this stuff and promoting it, but if Ripken was the one orchestrating it all, it slots him as captain of the steam-powered ship of professional hazing.
No, front offices should not promote the beating of their own players’ ribcages. Sorry, Gregg Zaun.
(Source: Yahoo! Sports)
